The Bears invested a lot of faith and resources in Jay Cutler when they signed him to a seven-year, $126.7 million deal. But team president and CEO Ted Phillips is more than confident that it was the right move for the organization going forward.

"At the end of the year, we had a lot of unsigned players," Phillips said on the Kap and Haugh Show. "The cornerstone was what to do at quarterback. I give all the credit to Phil [Emery] and Marc [Trestman] and Cliff [Stein], they really did a good job of analyzing where we are as a team, where Jay is, the progress he made last year under coach Trestman, and I think the entire organization was firmly behind that decision. We're excited to have Jay as our leader."

Since arriving in 2009, the Bears have seen a lot of growth and a higher level of maturity from Cutler off the field. As Phillips has seen those changes progress, he expects that to even further develop Cutler's performance on the field.

"There's no doubt about that," Phillips said. "Not only has he shown growth and maturity off the field, but his teammates — the way he interacts with his teammates and the coaching staff — has been a really positive development and it's only going to help his growth as a player on the field. Whenever you sign a player to a contract of that magnitude, he has to deliver on the field and we have confidence he will."